Maria Zepeda said she was forced to clean 40 office floors every night with little help and for little money.

"The day I came to City Hall, the owner of my company, Jancoa, was present in the audience," Zepeda said through an interpreter. "She saw me speaking up about these abuses. The next Wednesday I was fired from my job."

The seven-year employee of Jancoa Janitorial Services said she regularly cleaned the Enquirer building at Third and Elm streets downtown.

The minimum rate for janitorial workers has been raised to $9.80 an hour, but they claim their hours have been reduced so their take-home pay is flat and their workload is greater.

"I have to be at work at 5:30 p.m.," said Dina Smith, who cleans the Scripps Building. "I'm supposed to leave at 10 p.m. That's not enough time to finish everything that they put on us to do."

Among those who spoke out were workers who clean government buildings, including the Hamilton County Courthouse. They said it's ironic that the offices that distribute food stamps are cleaned by people who rely on them for assistance.

"For the four years I've been working, I've been on food stamps the whole four years, and I used to clean that building for two," said Tamika Maxwell, who cleans the public defender's building. "I was at that building cleaning, having to go file for food stamps, file for medical and everything, and I'm actually cleaning that building."

The union has filed a wrongful termination complaint against Zepeda's former employer.

City Council members said they're bothered by what happened, but they said they're essentially powerless to do anything.

The company issued a statement Wednesday evening saying that Zepeda voluntarily left her job.

“There are procedures in our contract with the union under which matters like this are properly considered, and those procedures provide the appropriate venue for discussion and resolution,” the company said.